Wilco performs at the Fox Theater in Oakland on Oct. 17, 2021. Karen Goldman/STAFF.

OAKLAND — A light drizzle fell on Sunday night as Chicago rock group Wilco played the first of two nights at the Fox Theater. Many are hopeful the rain signaled an end to the long, hot and dry summer. The attendees at the Fox may have been hoping Wilco’s epic two-hour set marked another step on the road to recovery for live music. The pair of dates, which had been rescheduled from March of last year, are in support of Wilco’s 11th studio album, 2019’s Ode to Joy. The sextet featuring frontman Jeff Tweedy and guitar hero Nels Cline, mined the band’s extensive catalog, leaping from intimate acoustic songs to overdriven sonic assaults and back again.

Pounding drums and guitar noise filled the old movie house as the band started its marathon set with “Bright Leaves” from Ode to Joy. But it was “A Shot in the Arm,” off the 1999 album Summerteeth, that really captured the evening’s mood. “Maybe all I needed was a shot in the arm/ Something in my veins bloodier than blood,” Tweedy sang to the masked and vaccinated crowd.

“Good to see you,” Tweedy finally said after close to half an hour onstage, before explaining that he isn’t talking much on this tour because he says “stupid shit,” and because the band “loves playing” and “just wants to play some songs.”

Wilco’s sonic variety was achieved in part by an epic array of gear with multiple piano and keyboard stations, along with Nels Cline‘s staggering array of gear and sound effects. Jeff Tweedy, clad in a green military-style jacket and jeans, received new guitars with almost every new song, alternating between gorgeous vintage axes both electric and acoustic. The envy from the many guitar-collecting lawyers and doctors in the crowd was palpable.

Nels Cline performs with Wilco.

If the vibe onstage occasionally veered toward a collection of dads gathered in a backyard to sing some songs during halftime, it was the wizardry of Nels Cline’s guitar playing that provided the beer, bud and brats, adding the quintessential sonic excitement to the mix. His mind-blowing level of talent as a guitarist places him somewhere between a virtuoso and a savant. A virtuoso because there’s seemingly nothing he can’t do on the guitar, from face-melting shredding on songs like “How to Fight Loneliness” to angular blasts of broken glass guitar during an extended freakout on “Art of Almost.” Savant because Cline seems not only at home in each of these genres, but as if he has something important to say in every emotional register. His masterfully enigmatic solo on ballad “Impossible Germany,” from Wilco’s 2007 album Sky Blue Sky, was easily the highlight of the night.

Other highlights during the set included a couple deep cuts off Wilco’s 2004 album, A Ghost is Born. Both “Theologians” and “Hummingbird” made excellent use of the band’s elaborate instrumentation to deliver powerful and dynamic renditions that strayed from the album versions in interesting ways. “Laminated Cat,” a song off Tweedy’s Loose Fur collaboration with artist and producer Jim O’Rourke unleashed a churning barrage of sonic weirdness that swirled through the theater for close to 10 minutes.

After almost two hours, the band closed it set with a sparse, acoustic rendition of “Reservations,” off 2001’s Yankee, Hotel, Foxtrot. The crowd stomped and cheered until all six musicians returned to the stage for the much-loved “California Stars,” a song composed by Woody Guthrie but given life by Wilco and English singer-songwriter Billy Bragg on their 1998 collaboration album, Mermaid Avenue.

“Is it OK we played that song?” Tweedy asked. “It’s not pandering is it?”

The band closed out the encore with a pair of rocking songs from its earliest albums. “I Got You (At the End of the Century)” and “Outtasite (Outta Mind)” gave everyone onstage a chance to rock out with complete abandon. Bassist John Stirratt delivered an Eddie Van Halen air walk kick, while multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone held his blonde Fender Telecaster over his head as the guitar rang out with feedback.

Faye Webster.

“We’ll see some of you tomorrow night. Let’s do this again,” Tweedy said as the band left the stage to enthusiastic applause.

Atlanta’s Faye Webster opened the show playing lush music with a country twang. Webster’s six-member band offered up sweet pedal steel, piano, and her electric guitar playing as it ran through songs from her four studio albums, including her latest, 2021’s I Know I’m Funny Haha.

Follow writer David Gill at Twitter.com/songotaku and Instagram/songotaku. Follow photographer Karen Goldman at Twitter.com/Xposure120 and Instagram.com/XposureArts.